Lord of Rot

”SHLICK!”

Lacy lopped off the head of a corpse blocking his path with a single swing of his sword.

The unit he led was already accustomed to being ambushed.

He sheathed his sword. All the corpses from this ambush had been annihilated.

”WHINNY!”

Lacy suddenly noticed something was wrong with the warhorse beneath him; it was agitated and uneasy.

Moreover, his keen perception as a Transcendent made him subconsciously turn his head to look north.

”What is it, sir?” a cavalryman asked.

Another cavalryman followed Lacy’s gaze toward the north. ”There seems to be something over there. Is that the light of a fire?”

”The Lord isn’t in danger, is he?!”

”We’re at least a full day and night’s journey from Lilac Village. How could we possibly see a fire from there? It probably has nothing to do with the Lord.”

”That’s true.”

The cavalrymen chattered amongst themselves, all guessing the source of the fire that flared into the sky. The most likely culprit was their Lord; only he could create such an unimaginably terrifying scene.

Lacy turned back. ”Do you think the Lord needs your help?”

The men recalled how, during the siege a few days ago, the Lord had led the charge, single-handedly cutting through the wall guards until they threw down their arms and surrendered.

They felt their worries were laughable. The Lord’s strength was beyond question. Why would the champion of the East Gorge martial competition need them to worry about him?

The only thing they could do was obediently complete their mission and not drag him down.

Lacy said, ”What we can do is carry out the Lord’s orders. Let’s keep moving!”

”Yes, sir!”

...

The three horses, whose legs had gone soft from the violent explosion, recovered quickly. After being fed some fodder and resting for a while, they were able to stand and continue the journey.

Leech gathered Niels Bohr’s remains. He had died so completely that no bones could be salvaged.

A section of the Corpse Demon Giant Lizard’s body was missing, so it couldn’t be made into a complete Undead Skeleton either.

It had, after all, followed him for a long time. He simply burned the body and buried the ashes, letting it become one with the land.

’Since this flower was the Black King given to him by someone else, this whole thing was a conspiracy.’ Leech idly twirled the flower and examined it.

Just by looking at the flower’s exterior, one would never guess that this thing could trigger a disaster for an entire territory.

’It doesn’t seem very aggressive on its own. The Black King must have been used incorrectly, leading to this mess.’

As for the proper way to use it, that was something he would have to explore slowly in the future.

In truth, Leech was more curious about the Extraordinary powers of this world—whether they could only be obtained through bloodline, innate talent, or by consuming concoctions.

’Or perhaps Magic is this world’s mercy for those without talent.’

Once the horses had fully recovered, Leech mounted up and led his unit toward Maoshan Beech Village.

They encountered scattered vine-entangled corpses along the way, but the Undead Cavalry would simply charge forward and annihilate them all in a single pass.

After a day or two of hard riding, they finally saw the monastery to the northeast.

It was a vast complex of buildings, like a small manor.

The Virginia creeper on the walls trembled with green leaves, as if the disaster that had affected tens of thousands of people had nothing to do with this monastery.

The wind blew, bringing a swarm of mosquitoes with it.

Leech waved his hand to shoo the insects away, but one managed to get into his eye. Rubbing it, he walked into the monastery’s chapel.

He blinked, squeezing out a tear, and the gritty feeling in his eye finally disappeared.

Lifting his head, Leech, his eyes still moist, found himself meeting the gaze of a statue of the Lady of the Four Gods looking down at him.

The scene made it seem as though a god was offering counsel, with Leech appearing to listen earnestly to the divine teachings, tears welling in his eyes.

”...”

He was a casual believer, and only because his body’s previous owner had been devout. Otherwise, he would have been an atheist.

He wasn’t sure if gods existed in this world, or if that insect had been part of some divine plan. But this moment—looking up at the statue with a tear in his eye—certainly felt a bit too deliberate.

People called Leech the ”Divine Favored,” a title he felt was largely unearned. He knew full well he hadn’t been resurrected from the dead; he was a Transmigrator.

His only ”golden finger” was that the fatal wound on his body had been healed when he transmigrated.

’If I really am a Divine Favored brought to this world by the Four Gods, what is their purpose?’

’The happiest way to live is to avoid overthinking and useless speculation.’ Leech quickly suppressed his various thoughts. He was just a minor Baron with a mountain of problems to deal with. Rather than dwelling on such things, he’d better think about the future development of Iron Valley.

The corpses, Corpse Ghosts, and Undead Skeletons entered the monastery and began to ”clean up.”

Within half a day, anything that could still move had its head ”gently” smashed in. The bodies were then unceremoniously dragged out and piled up in the courtyard.

The majority of the bodies in the monastery were, naturally, priests and nuns. They were thrown onto a pyre and set ablaze.

Leech stood in the courtyard, watching the flames consume the bodies. ’I suppose I’ve performed a great service,’ he thought grimly. ’At least I’ve freed these clergy from their suffering.’

Leech planned to station the Undead Cavalry and the few dozen remaining corpse Soldiers in the monastery. The place was spacious enough to garrison his troops conveniently.

Moreover, there was no risk of exposing his ability to control the Undead here.

The monastery was surprisingly well-stocked with supplies.

While wandering around, he also discovered a small vegetable garden.

It had likely been planted by ascetic monks to be self-sufficient.

Untended for over a year, the small garden was now overgrown with weeds, but Leech still managed to spot some stubbornly growing celery.

April was the right season for celery to mature.

’Later on, I can have people try to grow some vegetables at Iron Wall Castle,’ he thought.